As more and more of the products we use in our daily lives are made of plastic and other synthetic substances, the risk of fire from those products has increased. So flame retardant chemicals have been added to those products to lower the risk of fire and slow down the burning if something ignites.

But there's a problem that has only recently become evident: The chemicals most widely used to retard flammability (a class of chemicals called PDBEs) turn out to be potentially toxic. In tests, PDBEs impair memory, learning and behavior in laboratory animals. They're also classed as so-called endocrine disruptors, which means they can interfere with reproductive and thyroid functions.

And PDBEs don't stay where they're put, in products such as mattresses, televisions and upholstery. Instead, the chemicals are being found all over the place -- in household dust, in wildlife species around the world, in the food we eat. Most alarmingly, they are found in ever-increasing amounts in breast milk, as well in as the bodies of infants, children and adults. Scientists say the chemicals are not tightly bound into the products they are added to, and thus leach out.

Maine has taken strong action to guard against the potential toxic health effects of PDBEs by already banning two of the three most popular PDBEs in commercial use, the flame retardants "penta" and "octa." Now, the Maine Fire Marshall, Maine Fire Chiefs Association, Maine Fire Protection Services Commission, the Professional Firefighters of Maine, Maine Centers for Disease Control and the Maine Department of Environmental Protection say that the state should phase out the use of deca, the third major member of the group of PDBEs, by 2012.

We agree, and urge the Legislature to pass the bill before them to ban all use in the state of products containing deca. About the only defender of the chemical's use is the Albemarle Company of Richmond, VA, one of the largest manufacturers of deca. Company representatives say the state shouldn't phase out the chemical because there aren't good substitutes for it and products will be more flammable as a result.

That's the same argument that was used, to no avail, when the bans on penta and octa were first proposed. In its annual report to the Legislature on the use of this class of fire retardants, state environmental officials said this year that they are "satisfied that safer alternatives are available to meet flammability standards for TVs, mattresses and residential upholstered furniture."

This shouldn't be a hard decision for legislators to make. Ban the stuff.